Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Visit Home: Part the Second

I told my friend Myriah that I was going to go to California. She said, "Can I come visit you?" What? Where I was going, and where she currently lives are not close. After asking 'really?' four or five times, I got that she was serious and we set a date. Lillian kind of looks like a duck in this picture.

Every time I go to California, I really only have two things on my itinerary. #1: Go to the beach. Up until my move to Arizona, I'd never lived more than 30 minutes from the ocean and I miss it. A lot.

Which is why I'm glad Myriah consented to go with me. Because she'd never been to Huntington Beach, I decided to make it an adventure and try to remember how to get there from memory. We only had to do one U-turn. (I took the 55 until it ended and turned onto 17th, but I forgot to turn onto Superior, oops.)

All of Southern California was beset by June Gloom, so we didn't go in the water. I didn't even bring jackets for them at all, or even pants for Nora. Just like the last time we were here my kids were severely under dressed. Nora's wearing Lillian's spare shirt on top of her onesie, wrapped up in my nursing cover. Jeri was very apologetic about the weather, saying how she wished it was sunny for our visit. Man, I get plenty of sun in Arizona, don't you worry.

Lillian has had a hearty dislike of the ocean since she got knocked over by a wave at Pismo Beach. But, I'm pretty sure she would hate it if that hadn't happened. She stayed far, far away from the water and played happily in the sand. This was Nora's first trip and as she's too little to object, I made her put her feet in.

She didn't like it.

#2 on my California itinerary: Eat at Wahoo's. So. Extremely. Delicious. I've never actually eaten at the one in Huntington before, and I think the salsa is a leeetle bit spicier than the ones inland; I couldn't eat it, but I blamed it on Nora. Or, I've gotten sissier. One of the two. Aaah. If I had to pick something to eat every day for the rest of my life, it would be the #6.

Even Lillian got in on this action. And, I realized as I was making this post, I only got two pictures of Myriah. To Lillian's left is her arm.

And here she is with the Duke. On the way home, the kids fell asleep, so we decided to visit the Newport Beach Temple. I kicked myself for not remembering some church clothes - I mean, we could have taken turns running in and doing inititories or something. I took some pretty pictures of the flowers out front, which I'll probably post tomorrow.

Thanks Myriah for driving 3.5 hours (well, probably more like 4.5 if you factor in the... detour) one way to come see us!

Us and Things

We are the Balls: raised in California, raising kids in Arizona. Amanda is sacrificing every last shred of her sanity to the care and feeding of the little ones while Tyler earns bread and butter by designing spaceships. Welcome to our craziness.

A taste of the Ball life

Amanda: What do you want for lunch: ham sandwich or peanut butter sandwich?Lillian: Ham. No, peanut butter. No... ham... No, peanut butter.Amanda: Ok, I'm going to make you a peanut butter sandwich. (makes sandwich)Lillian: NO! I WANTED HAM!!!!Amanda: You said peanut butter, and I told you I was going to make you peanut butter.Lillian: No... I think you just spaced out Mom.

Tyler on dodo birds: I mean, any species that can be wiped out by rats probably didn't deserve to live. Nature should have selected them a long time ago to go extinct... it's like it forgot and got there late.

Lillian: I like carrots mom. They're like... juice you eat.

Tyler was reading Lillian a picture book in which a little boy finds an airplane in his closet and takes it into space where he runs out of gas and lands on the moon. On the moon, he meets a little Martian boy, wearing a space suit, who's spaceship had crashed.Tyler: How come the Martian needs a space suit and the little boy doesn't? This book is so inaccurate.

Lillian threw a piece of food during dinner.Tyler: Lillian don't throw food.Lillian: But, it was just a little bit of food.

Amanda looks over and sees Lillian desperately trying to shove the Camelbak valve into Nora's mouth.Amanda: Stop that! Don't put that into her mouth!Lillian: Mom, I'm just playing doctor.Amanda: Well, don't put it into her mouth.Lillian (accompanied with change in tactic): Just her ears.

Lillian (pointing): This is my neck. This is Daddy's neck. This is Mom's neck. Nora doesn't have a neck.

Amanda: Listen to this, "The men and women of the Yana tribe in California speak different dialects." (TIME Magazine).Tyler: The men and women speak different dialects in our house: sense and nonsense.

I ran upstairs briefly and left Nora in her chair with a curious Lillian looking on. Nora started fussing and crying a little and I heard Lillian say, "Nora! Stop Crying! Use your words!"

We practiced and practiced saying "Daddy, I missed you" all the way to the bus stop, a full five minute drive. Upon arrival, I prep Lillian one last time. I roll down the window, Tyler sticks his head in, and I prompt Lillian, "do you have something to say to daddy?"Lillian looks up at him with her eyes full and sincere, "Juicebox."

Amanda: This dictionary says Wednesday can be pronounced wendz-dee or wendz-day.Tyler: Well... that dictionary was written by an old person.